Lancashire thrashed at Grace Road after collapse against Leicestershire

Lancashire Lightning suffered another humbling defeat in the Royal London One-Day Cup, as Leicestershire Foxes achieved their first List A victory since August 2014 with a 131-run win at Grace Road.

Chasing 308 runs to win, the visitors were bowled out for 176 inside 40 overs, with Tom Smith top-scoring with 56 for the Red Rose. Lancashire made a good start to their run-chase, reaching 74/0 after Smith and Alviro Petersen set a strong platform, but a top-order collapse of four wickets for 30 runs in nine overs put the Foxes in the driving seat.

Leicestershire made 307/8 after they were put into bat by the visiting captain Steven Croft, with Mark Pettini (92 off 99) and Mark Cosgrove (91 off 82) adding a devastating partnership worth 140 runs for the third wicket to help the hosts to post a match-winning score. Neil Dexter then took career-best figures of 4-22 from seven overs, as Lancashire collapsed from 74/0 to 176 all out in the space of 26 overs.

Lancashire's third defeat in five group matches means that they must bounce back immediately when they travel to Derby tomorrow for the televised fixture, with the threat of elimination from both one-day competitions looming over the reigning T20 champions.

Former Lancashire batsman Paul Horton (32) helped his captain to set a strong platform for the home side with an opening stand worth 54 runs. Smith, who is due to be best man at Horton's wedding, claimed early bragging rights when he had his former Lancashire colleague trapped lbw, although Horton's first ever over in List A cricket would later turn the tables back in the Leicestershire player's favour.

Cameron Delport made a crushing 68 off 36 balls when the sides met in the Blast earlier this month and he showed initial signs of making another telling contribution during a quickfire 25, but he was the next wicket to fall when Tom Moores held a superb diving catch behind the stumps off Jordan Clark (1-47) at 93/2.

Petting led the way for his side with a 65-ball half-century, finding the perfect ally in Cosgrove, as Leicestershire made the most of a strong platform to punish Lancashire. Cosgrove played with a belligerent tone and he also had his share of luck, edging behind square several times without ever finding the fielder, bust instead, the boundary.

The hard-hitting Australian went to fifty in just 51 balls, with his temperament allowing the Foxes to add a hundred-partnership for the third wicket. Smith (2-49) found the vital breakthrough when he denied Pettini a ninth List A hundred, trapping the former Essex batsman lbw for 92 at 233/3. Lancashire managed to recover marginally after this mammoth stand, claiming four wickets for 34 runs in 44 balls, but late hitting from Dexter would ensure that the Foxes topped 300.

Nathan Buck (2-55) returned to remove Cosgrove nine runs short of a century, although it took a superb piece of fielding from Croft at long-off to ensure that Lancashire had their fourth wicket. Croft was forced to throw the ball back into play after wobbling on the boundary, but the Lancashire captain held on for a second time to remove Cosgrove when he was looking to put his foot on the accelerator.

Captain Mark Pettini led the way for his side with 92 from 99 balls.

Buck struck again in his next over, bowling Lewis Hill for 15 at 266/5, before Stephen Parry (1-72) had Michael Burgess (1) out lbw, the third wicket to fall in 16 deliveries. Leicestershire were, momentarily, in danger of failing to reach 300 after the efforts of Pettini and Cosgrove, but a cameo from Dexter put to bed any fears of Leicestershire being held back by the visitors.

Dexter followed up a leg-side boundary with a towering six over mid-wicket, before taking the Foxes beyond 300 with another maximum the next ball off Parry, taking 17 runs from the penultimate over of the match. Kyle Jarvis (2-50) bolstered his figures with two wickets in the final over of the innings, bowling Dexter for 21 off 10 balls with an inch-perfect yorker. The Zimbabwean then had Rob Sayer (1) held by Croft at long-on, but the Foxes had posted a steep target of 308 after reaching 307/8 from their 50 overs.

Lancashire and Smith made a racing start to their pursuit of 308, with the left-handed opening scoring three fours in the same over off Dieter Klein to help the visitors post 56/0 after the ten-over powerplay. Petersen was looking to mimic his success from the Twenty20 match against the Foxes earlier this month, but the South-African followed up his unbeaten century with a more modest return on this occasion.

After establishing a strong start with Smith, Petersen was dragged out of his crease attempting a reverse sweep off Sayer (1-31) and quick work from Niall O'Brien ensured that he was stumped for 24. Lancashire were still in a good position following this wicket, but the loss of both Smith and Karl Brown (11) in the space of six deliveries left a significant dent in their chances.

Following a beautiful lofted drive, Brown picked out the only man on the leg-side boundary in Ollie Freckingham, who took a juggling catch to hand Dexter the first of four wickets at 93/2. Horton (1-7), - who had never previously bowled in 105 List A matches - then had Smith (56) caught at mid-off by Hill with his innocuous part-time spin to earn his first ever wicket in 13 seasons as a professional cricketer.

It was a wicket that more than made up for Horton's dismissal at the start of the Leicestershire innings  from Smith's bowling and one that signalled the end for Lancashire after a promising start with the bat. Luke Procter followed soon after for 8 when he was bowled by Dexter at 104/4, the fourth wicket to fall for 30 runs in nine overs, as the top-order continued to falter.

England Lions batsman Liam Livingstone (28) showed eagerness to drag Lancashire out of the mire with his hard-hitting approach, adding 39 runs with Croft for the fifth wicket before he was caught behind off Dexter. Delport then claimed two wickets in successive deliveries, accounting for Croft and Clark (14) to leave Lancashire in a desperate position at 162/7.

Clark was victim off a smart catch by Horton in the deep and Croft (16) followed that up by playing on to Delport (2-41), with his side making a mess of chasing 308 in ever-fading light at Grace Road. With the tail struggling to find any motivation, the last five wickets fell for 14 runs in the space of 30 balls, as Lancashire failed to get anywhere near their target.

Klein (2-38) struck the first of two late blows when he bowled Parry for 4, while Dexter cemented his career-best figures of 4-22 in seven overs when he bowled Jarvis for a duck. Leicestershire then secured their first List A victory for nearly two years when Moores (10) drilled a drive into the hands of Cosgrove in the covers, handing the Foxes a crushing margin of victory by 131 runs.